


I Held Your Heart Once

by danversaddict



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Based on a writing prompt from 2 years ago, Brainwashing, F/F, Hopeful Ending, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Lena Luthor Gets a Hug, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, Livewire Needs Several Hugs, Mild Blood, Mild Gore, Minor Violence, Protective Kara Danvers, Protective Lena Luthor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-02-22 20:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23133553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danversaddict/pseuds/danversaddict
Summary: Cadmus has captured both Supergirl and Lena Luthor and sent them to a remote location hidden to the DEO. Can Lena help Kara escape when she can barely help herself thanks to her mother's twisted plans?
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers & Lena Luthor, Alex Danvers & Leslie Willis, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Lena Luthor & Leslie Willis
Comments: 19
Kudos: 139





	1. Chapter 1

No one had ever bothered to tell her about this part.

About the dangers of falling in love, about the heartache it causes. About becoming your own worst nightmare.

Lena's hands held a tray of various questionable liquids contained in corked test tubes. Her legs carried her to a cage she wished she'd never have to see again for as long as she lived. All the while she was struggling to stop herself, willing her limbs to drop the tray, to turn around and put it back where it came from.

Supergirl stared at her with red-rimmed powder blue eyes. She sat kneeling on the concrete, dried blood coating the corners of her mouth and a fresh wound on her head that Lena’s eyes immediately averted from. There was a dent in the abrasion as if Kara had been repeatedly slamming it into the bars, or perhaps someone else had done that much for her. Blood trickled from a crack in the center that likely wouldn't be getting any medical attention. 

“Lena, please,” she begged. Her voice quivered as she spoke. Whether it was from disuse or crying Lena couldn't tell, but she wished Kara would stop talking. If she'd only be quiet the guilt wouldn't hurt as much.

Lena held her hand out, feeling as though she'd been stabbed in the gut as Kara recoiled. A few stray tears escaped as she sat the tray down, leaning against the bars of the cage and forcefully grabbing Kara's arm. She pulled it through the bars and slid a hypodermic needle into an already swollen vein. Kara cried out and tried to pull her arm back, but Lena yanked her forward and sent her crashing into the bars again. With shaking hands, she could barely uncork the test tube accommodating a putrid golden liquid. Lena stretched the end of a rubber funnel connected to the needle over the top of the test tube and turned the tube upside down.

Kara’s knuckles turned white from gripping the steel bars as the liquid slowly burned its way through her veins. She couldn't help but whimper. Although it was familiar to her now, she couldn't be still while the poison worked, and tried to wriggle her arm out of Lena’s grasp. Her best friend only jerked her into the bars again, now on the verge of full on sobbing.

“I'm so sorry,” Lena choked out. Tears clouded her vision but she kept moving like a machine, the mechanism already knowing its tasks. Once the test tube was void of the liquid she ripped the needle out of Kara's arm and shoved her back into the cage. She slid the rest of the tray through a slot in the bars, hoping that the Kryptonian would cooperate. Instructions were included since the only thing that Lillian couldn't control was her daughter’s voice. 

Lena turned and left the room afterwards. One foot after the other with no outward regard for the woman she’d left suffering in the other room. Raw, unvoiced screams of rage and despair emanated from the back of her mind. Lena's legs calmly walked her to her designated living space where she finally broke down. It was her fault that Kara was here. They captured Lena first and used her as bait for Supergirl to come and save, but Cadmus was _always_ more prepared. She glared at the paper stuck to her wall with a neon green thumbtack with enough ferocity to cause it to spontaneously combust, if only she had the ability. 

**_Congratulations! You have been specially selected to engineer a poison to rid our Earth of all extraterrestrial vermin. Test specimens await you downstairs. Remember to report any unforeseen terminations as specimens are limited and we want a_ ** **_universal_ ** **_solution. Thank you for your cooperation!_ **

Nine shrill beeps sounded from the speaker in the wall. She climbed into bed against her will, arms already in place yet dreading the restraints that rose to greet her just in case she was somehow able to break herself from the loop. She laid down on her back and the metallic mechanisms clicked into place around her neck and wrists. She couldn’t fight it and the dark red rings around her joints proved that it was pointless to try. Her body was merely a puppet, one made obedient by the device planted in her brain and the light show that kept it active. As the screen descended from the ceiling, she heard a scream. One that had become all too familiar, yet this time was different. 

Lena's head snapped to the left just as the lights started. She closed her eyes, gathering all of her energy to fight the commands hardwired into her that told her to _look_. She held that position for as long as she could, gritting her teeth and steeling herself. She felt warm beads of sweat roll down her cheek and it broke her concentration. Her neck snapped almost painfully to the right and she opened her eyes to the last five seconds of the programming. That was long enough to tighten her mother’s hold on her brain. Tears mixed with the sweat running off into her pillow. The shackles receded into the bed, the screen lifted, and Lena’s eyes closed. 

Another scream. Lena forced her eyes open. The simplest actions felt like fighting through a pool of molasses. She felt heavy, the device smothering her free will and weighing her limbs down as if she were buried under a ton of lead. And yet, something about the scream helped her fight. 

She knew exactly what it was. Kara was suffering, she was in pain and it was all Lena’s fault. If only she’d been stronger, if only she held off her mother’s henchmen for a minute longer.. Now was not the time for guilt. She was driven by the want, no, the _need_ to save Kara. Lena grunted involuntarily as she forced herself on to her side. Her hand gripped the edge of the bed, straining and pulling herself towards it. She used all of her energy to get that far and couldn’t get her legs under her control, so she hit the hollow metal floor with a loud thud. The shock of the impact was enough for a brief moment of clarity and by the time the fog settled back over her mind, Lena was out the door and on her way to Kara's cage. 

The sight of her entire world collapsed on the floor, writhing in pain, gold webbing veins spanning any patch of skin that Lena could see.. her mother wanted her to enjoy it. She could feel it. Some deranged satisfaction in seeing the girl of steel on her knees that twinged in the back of Lena’s mind, severely outweighed by her heart breaking for the hero. “Kara..” she whispered, testing to see if the Kryptonian could hear her. Bloodshot blue eyes flickered over Lena's face, a mixture of fear and relief reflected in them. Kara slid closer and farther away from the bars at the same time, resulting in a twitchy movement that felt like a dagger in Lena's chest. _Keys_ , she remembered. She needed to get the door open. At the same time, she needed to help Kara as soon as possible. “Sunlight..” she voiced at a volume slightly louder than her previous whisper. “Would sunlight help you?” Kara nodded, grimacing as the movement pulled at her veins. Lena's sliver of hope dissipated when she remembered it was night time. 

Still, the keys. As she was turning to leave for the security room, Kara cried out. “Wait! Please don't go,” the Kryptonian rasped. Her voice was cracking. Lena wondered when the last time she'd been given water was. Kara needed a lot of food to survive but the other scientists had probably not afforded her that either. 

“I'm going to kill that son of a bitch with my bare hands,” Lena growled, picturing the life draining from the head scientist’s eyes. Hell, after what she'd experienced in this horrid place, she'd kill her mother too. She shook her head to clear it, the device feeding on her anger and telling her to go back to her room. As she looked up at Kara, she noticed that the fear was nowhere to be found. Kara was still in absolute agony but the light behind her eyes had returned. 

“You're back,” she whispered, her tone coming across soft despite the hoarseness. Lena smiled for the first time in what felt like a thousand years. 

“That’s relative. What I _am_ is in control.”

“I knew that wasn't you. You were too robotic, and you talked but the words never matched what you were doing, and-” Kara started coughing, followed immediately by a cry of pain. She started convulsing and fell back to the floor, sobbing as she tried to fight off the poison. Lena hoped that this wasn't the formula that worked, that Cadmus hadn't won. 

“Kara, stay with me,” she pleaded. This one time her programming would cooperate with her - the protocol for a dying test subject required that the cage be opened. She sprinted to the security room with ease, finding it to be more of a struggle to allow her arm to deck the officer on patrol. He dropped, unconscious, and she took his key. She returned to Kara coughing up an excessive amount of blood. Lena unlocked the door and rushed to the hero’s side. 

“Stay with me,” Lena repeated, demanding that the Kryptonian not let this chemical get the better of her. She checked Kara's pulse, measured her breathing, brushed her hair back as the convulsions began to slow down. Kara swayed to the side, avoiding the grimy concrete and falling directly into Lena's body instead. The latter wrapped her arms around her best friend, burying her face in familiar blonde waves. “I'll get you out of here even if I die trying,” Lena promised in a whisper. She stood and simultaneously pulled Kara to her feet. 

“I won't let you die.” Kara’s speech was moderately slurred. She had to force the muscles to cooperate. Lena didn't respond to this, a sad smile briefly crossing her face. 

“Do you think you can walk?” Kara nodded and took a step forward, falling again. Lena caught her and draped one of Kara's arms across her shoulders. Lena's arm wrapped around Kara's waist. “Lean on me, I'll be your crutch. We can do this.”

They took the next step together to a higher level of success. Lena's programming screamed at her to stop. To let Kara fall, to kick her back into the cage. Her hold on Kara tightened. "It's.. gold Kryptonite," Kara whispered. "But it's wrong." She wheezed, a trickle of fresh blood running from the corner of her mouth. "It's laced with something."

"Something worse," Lena supplied. Gold Kryptonite was used to keep Kara alive but powerless. There was something else in the last vial that _hurt_ her. Lena refused to believe that Kara was anything but wounded. She wasn't dying, especially not when they were so close to making it out. "Two more security doors, okay? Stay with me."

"I am, I'm with you," Kara reassured groggily. At a slow pace, Lena managed to steer both of them to the first door and opened it. She froze then, almost all motor functions seized by the microchip. She wasn't allowed to leave. Kara felt the sudden rigidity creep through Lena's body. "Lee?" she inquired. Her voice felt far away, but the other woman seemed to hear her. 

"I can't," Lena whispered. Tears welled in her seafoam green eyes. Kara used the door frame as an anchor as she stumbled forward to get a better look at Lena's face. Lena stared back from a thousand miles away, trapped somewhere in her own body. "Keep going," she urged. "Go. Take the next left, then-"

"I'm not leaving without you." Kara summoned the strength to vocalize this with enough force to indicate that she would not be swayed. First she tried to take Lena's hand and pull her through the doorway. Lena's arm jerked away and Kara was knocked off balance, collapsing into a coughing heap on the ground. Her hand shook as she wiped the blood from her mouth. She felt extremely dizzy and her vision swam. 

Lena inadvertently made a wheezing sound as she swallowed a gasp. "I'm so sorry!" She couldn't help the guilt that crept in despite knowing her actions were not her own. 

"It's okay, I'm okay," Kara reassured gently. “What did they do to you?”

Lena’s jaw tightened momentarily. She forced it open to tell Kara. “Lillian. She put something in my head. I can't move, Kara, you have to go," she pleaded. She knew the stubborn look in the hero's eyes all too well but Kara couldn't wait, it was only a matter of time before someone wanted to use this doorway. 

"You had it under control before," Kara argued. "How did you do that?"

"I heard you screaming. I had to get you out of here."

"You will." Kara took a clumsy step forward and wrapped her arms around Lena as tightly as she could. She wasn't sure if it would help but it was worth a shot, and at the very least she'd get one more Lena hug before the poison killed her. It took a moment, but she felt Lena's arms clasp across her back. They were shaking but she was definitely the one who moved them. Although Kara really didn't want to let go, she knew time was of the essence and they were running out of it. Whatever energy she'd been reserving before finally depleted. Her legs gave out, but Lena caught her before she hit the ground.

"I can't walk." 

Lena nodded solemnly. "I've got you. Just hang on." She was determined to get both of them out alive now. She picked Kara up bridal style and carried her to the next door, forcing herself to focus on moving her legs. 

Left, right, left, right, stop. "There's a keycard in my pocket," she said, hoping Kara had enough in her to open the doors. Kara nodded and reached up, grabbed the keycard, swiped it across the terminal and brought her hand back in to rest against her skirt. She didn't want to drop it, but at least if she did it wouldn't fall. Lena smiled as the door opened and she felt the cool air leaking in from outside. One last corridor. The door behind them began to shut.

As they reached the last door, a metal airlock resembling something Kara had seen used on spacecraft before, she hesitated. “What if we’re underwater?” she asked hoarsely, worried that the whole escape had been in vain.  
  
“We aren’t,” Lena assured. “The room they put me in had a window, we’re high up but I could see trees around two hundred meters to the west.”

“High up?” Kara’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Lena couldn’t help but smile when she saw the forehead crease. She’d missed everything about Kara, the little things especially.

“I’m guessing mountainside, and we should be closer to ground level here.”  
  
Kara hesitantly swiped the keycard across the scanner. As she did, she heard a sharp “ _hey!_ ” come from behind them. Lena whirled around to face the guard she’d knocked out earlier who was now sprinting down the hallway towards them and the closing door. He raised his arm, a pistol in hand leveled at his target’s chest level. Lena’s breath caught in her throat as he pulled the trigger. The door shut behind his bullet and Kara’s hold on Lena tightened.

Lena looked down, fully expecting to see a hole in herself. Instead, Kara’s hand dripped with a shade of crimson that she’d become all too familiar with. Lena helped her sit with her back against the lead-infused wall. “Why?” was all Lena could manage, quickly dropping to her knees and inspecting the wound for the bullet’s entry point. 

Kara smiled sheepishly. “Reflex.”

“You’re smarter than this,” Lena scolded while she used her sleeve to wipe blood away from Kara’s palm. The copper glint of the bullet drew her focus away from Kara's presence and solely to her hand. Working carefully, she slid the bullet out and let it hit the floor. Kara winced slightly, feeling as though it was nothing more than a splinter in comparison to the pain she’d been through just earlier that day. She was more or less numb to it at this point. Without hesitating, Lena tore the clean sleeve of her shirt off and wrapped it around the wound to serve as a makeshift bandage and stifle the bleeding until they could get help.

“I love you,” Kara whispered as her eyelids struggled to remain open. “I mean... thank you… but that too.”

“What?” Lena finally looked up when she was satisfied with her work. Her eyes widened when she noticed what was going on. “No, Kara, stay awake,” she begged. She grabbed Kara’s uninjured hand and gave it a hard squeeze, willing her to hang in there just a minute longer. When their eyes met, Lena noticed Kara’s eyes seemed far paler than normal. Her gaze slipped in and out of focus. Lena wasted no more time in picking her up once more and nearly dropping her upon getting them both outside. Lena screamed at the surge of pain reverberating inside her skull, collapsing next to the exit door and clutching both sides of her head as if she could stop it from feeling like it was going to burst. Kara had fortunately landed on her lap and didn't hit the ground. The loud unexpected sound broke Kara from her stupor and let loose a lazy pump of adrenaline that allowed her to react. 

"Are… you… okay?" She reached up and placed her good hand over one of Lena's. She curled her fingers into a hook to keep it there despite her tired arm's protests. An indeterminable amount of time later, the sharp pain coursing through Lena's head gradually died down to a dull pulsing sensation and she opened her eyes. Kara was there, awake and relatively alert, eyes shining with worry. Lena then finally felt her friend's hand. 

"I love you too," she replied. Her lips quirked into a half-smirk. "Both ways. Just to clarify, since you didn't."

"Sorry, busy dying," Kara joked. She was feeling better under the moonlight. The sun wasn't up yet, but being able to feel its presence in some capacity was a good start. 

"It's okay, I could tell the difference."

"Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Dramatic effect." Both women laughed, living in a moment where they were able to enjoy each others' company for the first time in months. At least Kara thought it had been months, since when she initially flew out to find the abandoned warehouse decoy it had been midsummer and now a chill hung in the air. 

"Well, darling, are you up for a bit of a hike?" Lena nodded towards the woods. From their current position, she could see a clearing on top of a hill. 

"Not much of a choice." Kara watched Lena stand. "I can probably walk but I can't get up," she added with a laugh. Lena smiled and offered a hand that Kara gladly took, pulling herself up as best she could, but Lena had to help. 

"How are you feeling?" Lena checked Kara's pulse and found that it was far more lively than it had been before. 

Kara deadpanned, a far off look in her eyes. "I don't feel. Isn't that the point?"

"Wh- are you okay?" Fearing something had already gone horribly wrong with the drug Kara had been given, Lena felt the girl of steel's forehead with the back of her hand. It was definitely too hot, but not severely feverish hot.

Kara laughed, the mirth reaching her bloodshot eyes. Then she started coughing and Lena's heart sank. "I'm- I'm fine, Lee," she coughed out and took a deep breath. "I'm okay. It's from a video game, I'll show you when we get home." 

Lena's posture relaxed. "Okay," she mumbled and nodded. "Okay. We should get going before that asshole tells them we're gone."

"Yeah, good idea. I can walk but.. please stay close?" Kara requested. 

"Always." Lena spoke with a subtle smile. 

Huddled together like penguins, they made their way through the woods. Kara stumbled over uprooted trees and her hair snagged in low hanging branches that her vision was too blurred to notice. Lena made sure she kept moving regardless, and she had to lie down when they reached the clearing. Lena sat next to her without a question.

"Do you still have the keycard?" Lena asked softly. Kara scooted over to lean against her and silently handed it over. Lena took it and with one fingernail dug into either seam, pulled it apart. Kara watched her precision fiddling with the wiring as her eyelids started to get heavy. Lena looked up without moving her hands and gently tapped Kara's head with hers. "You can take a nap, just promise you won't die on me."

Kara chuckled lightly while shifting position. Lena raised her arms and Kara ducked under them, locking herself into place between Lena and the dissected keycard. Lena hadn't looked away from the object. 

"I can't see," Lena informed but didn't try to move her. She carefully sat the device on the ground next to them and held the Kryptonian. 

"I don't care," Kara mumbled in response. She was already halfway asleep. Lena smiled to herself and closed her eyes as well. She was exhausted too, battling a microchip rather than a poison, and she gained nothing from a yellow sun. It still hurt like hell and with the adrenaline wearing off it was getting harder to push past it. She just hoped the signal she'd created worked. Deep down she knew that even if finding Kara took a hundred years, Alex would never give up on her sister. 

The DEO's search and rescue team found the missing women exactly how they'd fallen asleep. Kara was slumped backwards into Lena's body and wrapped up in her best friend's arms, her head having shifted to rest against Lena's shoulder at an angle that left her with a sore neck. Lena's head had fallen back against the tree behind them. 

They remained unconscious despite the roaring helicopter engine and whir of its blades. Lena was finally roused by the sound of footsteps in the crunching leaves, reflexively holding Kara tighter to herself. "Kara! Lena," a familiar voice full of relief almost cracked as she said her sister's name. Alex Danvers came sprinting over to the Cadmus fugitives and Lena's body let go of the bit of consciousness she could manage. Before she fell asleep again, she was reassured that everything was okay now by the pulsing of Kara's heartbeat. 

There was no rest for the weary, however. Both women had to be awake for a quick health assessment before they were taken back to the DEO to ensure Cadmus hadn't turned them into biological warfare carriers or human bombs. An agent that was a complete stranger to Lena did the interrogating.

“Were you subjected to any testing as part of your initiation?” Lena couldn’t see his eyes behind the thick-framed sunglasses he wore. The man’s posture suggested he wouldn’t hesitate to take action within a second of notice if she were to answer his questions incorrectly.

“No. Just brainwashing.” That was a half-truth. Extensive testing had been conducted to assure she’d survive the microchip implant.

“Did you feel sick at any point during your stay?” This sounded more like a question that belonged in an email from a hotel. 

“No.” She had been nauseated to the point of vomiting in the halls by the things she was forced to do to living beings, but never had the sniffles. The man scribbled something down on the clipboard in his hands and nodded.

“Last question. Were any foreign bodies introduced to your person?” The only other person she trusted to tell about the microchip was busy crying, hugging, and talking with her sister. 

“No.” The man clipped the pen to the top of the clipboard and moved on. He bought everything, much to Lena’s relief. As he walked away she turned to find Kara. She was hugging her sister hard enough to break ribs if she were still superpowered. 

"They tried to convince me to call off the search but I _knew_ you were still out here!" Alex exclaimed. Lena couldn't hear the rest of the conversation but judging by the way their faces lit up, both Danvers sisters were beyond euphoric to see each other. A couple people from the S&R team brought a stretcher out of the chopper and had Kara lie down on it just as a precaution, and Alex followed them aboard. She gestured for Lena to climb up, which she did, then pulled Alex aside for a moment. 

"Thank you for being a genius with electronics. Without the tracker it would've taken too long to find you, and according to the paramedics there was an eighty percent chance it would've been too late to help Kara. You saved my sister's life." Alex had no idea what state Lena was in, otherwise she would have hugged her. 

Simply nodding after the words of gratitude, Lena cut to the chase by stating "I can't go back with you." 

"What? Why not?" 

"There's a chip in my head, my mother was using it as mind control. To make me hurt people." She had to pause and her voice lowered in volume while fresh tears sprang to her eyes. "To make me hurt Kara."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "But you helped get her out."

Lena nodded again and quickly swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. "She broke me out of the trance, sort of. Even out here I can feel it. It's not controlling, just.." she searched for the right word. "Zapping me. It's still active, it might have a tracker signal."

"So we find a way to deactivate it when we get to HQ." Alex crossed her arms. "No woman left behind, especially after everything you've done for Kara and the rest of the world."

Lena sighed. "You're dragging a security breach back to base."

"I'll handle it. Sit down and strap in," Alex ordered, nodding towards the few seats lining the wall. Lena listened to her, knowing talking a Danvers out of something was like trying to herd cats. Kara was lying on the stretcher yet, buckled down enough to secure her while she slept. Lena picked the seat closest to the Kryptonian as the S&R team filed in around her. As the chopper took off she found herself staring at the building she'd been imprisoned in. It was a lighthouse on a peninsula. From her window all she'd been able to see was the woods surrounding it, and she thanked the stars that the exit was on that side rather than the sheer cliff face opposing it. Neither Lena nor Kara would've been able to swim in their respective conditions. 

Lena turned away after a couple minutes and instead focused her attention on Kara. She could see the rise and fall of the hero breathing which put her mind at ease. Occasionally her thoughts would wander back to everything that could've gone wrong in their escape attempt. She could've lost everything in a matter of seconds. Luckily despite the chip's continued activity, it shared the soft spot of its host. Lena may have done the leg work but it was Kara who had saved them both. And though the light was still blinking in the distance, never again could it harm her. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Yeah, I can probably do it."

_ Who the  _ hell  _ was that? _ Lena tried to open her eyes but they wouldn't cooperate. 

"Hang on, she's awake."

That was Alex. The first wasn't Kara, and she had less than no idea who the other person in the room could've been.

"Lena?" Alex put pressure on her arm. She cringed at the unexpected touch. "Sorry, checking reflexes. Can you move?"

She tried. Lifted a finger, wiggled her nose, nothing. Not until she managed to open her eyes. The lights on the ceiling made her immediately regret that. 

"Can you speak?" No luck there either, but once her pupils had adjusted she could make out two faces at the edge of her vision. Alex was one, of course. The other person had white hair and black eyes, like all the pigmentation from their hair had been sucked into their irises to give them that coloration.

"Are you my sleep paralysis demon?" Lena blurted out. She was expecting her mouth to put up at least a little resistance as it had been, but all it took was an unfiltered thought. Alex looked back at the person and immediately burst into laughter. 

"No, this is Leslie-"

"Livewire," the not-demon corrected. 

"Sorry. This is Livewire, she's going to deactivate the chip in your head."

Lena raised an eyebrow, or at least attempted to. "How?"

"I'm gonna fry  _ it _ and try not to fry  _ you _ ." Spoken as if that was all in a day's work. Alex smiled sadly. 

"We can't surgically remove it without serious brain damage. There's nothing else we can do, so Kara suggested Livewire."

Lena frowned for a moment while she thought through some other possibilities. A focused EMP wouldn't be permanent. Chemicals wouldn't affect the chip and would end up hurting her instead. Short-circuiting the device was the only way. She tried to nod and found out why she wasn't able to move. Thousands of searing pinpricks traveled through her entire body, leading her to squeeze her eyes shut and try not to scream. Despite the attempt to remain silent she let out a whimper. 

"Is Kara okay?" she asked once the pain had subsided, reopening her eyes and momentarily blinding herself with the industrial lighting once more. 

Alex nodded. "She's under the sun lamps and constant supervision." She paused to check her watch. "Nia is with her now."

"Did you figure out what happened to her?"

"Blood samples tested positive for traces of cyanide." Alex tried to maintain a professional composure. "We don't know when she'll get her powers back."  _ When _ , not if. If anyone could pull through cyanide poisoning it was certainly a stubborn Kryptonian. 

"Hey it's almost lunchtime, are we doing this or what?" Livewire spoke up. Lena glanced over to her and took a moment to brace herself.

"Do it."

Livewire stepped to the head of the cot, just out of Lena's peripheral vision. She placed both hands on either side of Lena's temples, paused for a moment, and changed her mind. One hand against the top of Lena's head with her thumb pressed into the center of her forehead and the other at her side, she took a deep breath and felt the other woman shiver involuntarily. Admittedly, she knew her hands were usually ice cold. 

She sent a weak pulse of electricity into Lena's skin and closed her eyes, trying to map out the branching paths of synapses and find the one that led to the chip. Once the gentle shock reached it, Lena yelped. 

"Please just get this over with!"

"Chill out, I had to find it first." With no hesitation this time around Livewire sent a stronger jolt straight to the chip, followed by another pulse to be sure it was dead. No signs of abnormal activity aside from the EKG spiking twice before flatlining. 

*

Lena squinted against the harsh lights of the new medical unit she'd awoken in. Sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of the cot, she found Alex standing to her left along with a stranger in a DEO uniform. She tilted her head from side to side, enjoying the  _ pop _ of the joints in her neck and upper back. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked, rubbing the stiffness from her shoulder. 

"Twenty seconds, if that. How do you feel?" Alex exchanged a worried glance with the stranger. 

"Like I've been hit by a truck," Lena replied with a chuckle. Every muscle in her body was sore, but she simultaneously felt as though she was floating.

The stranger grinned. “Should stop in a few minutes. If it doesn’t, I fried your nerve endings. Enjoy.” After that, they walked off. Lena watched them then looked at Alex.

“What the f-”

“She’s a nice person sometimes, I swear.” The DEO’s director was massaging her temple and looked up, sighing. “Work in progress. Anyway, if you wanna head home, you can. I’ll have someone drive you.” Lena nodded, slowly standing up. All the blood rushed out of her upper body at once and left her visionless for a moment. Alex grabbed her upper arm before she keeled over.

“Don’t fall, the last thing you need is a concussion.”

Lena laughed, holding her hands up as Alex let go. “I’m fine, don’t worry. I do have one question though.”

“Shoot.”

“What got me here in the first place?” All she could remember was waking up on the hospital bed.

Alex offered her a tight-lipped smile. “I was afraid of that. You might have some acute amnesia for a few days, but your memory should be back to normal in a week at  _ most _ .”

Thinking about it for a moment caused a brief lull in the conversation. Alex looked agitated. “A week isn’t bad. Also, my name is Lena Luthor, we’re at the DEO, it’s the 22nd of September, and Olivia Marsdin is president.” She ran through the common questions asked to ensure someone was alert and oriented. The gesture worked and Alex laughed. “You didn’t answer my question, though,” Lena pointed out.

"I wasn't sure how you'd handle it." Alex subconsciously scratched at the back of her neck. Then she cracked a smile. "Blame your mother. You'll remember why."

"Great, I'll just add that to the ever-growing list of problems she's caused," Lena responded with a sigh. "Thank you for everything, as always."

"I'd say ‘anytime’ but I don't want you taking that offer." Both women laughed as Alex pulled out her phone and made a call. "How did you figure out the date anyway?" Lena pointed to the single party balloon floating out of a room down the hall.

“Lucky guess. Can I see her?”

Alex frowned and lowered the phone. “She’s not in great condition right now. Give me a call tomorrow and maybe-” The door behind Alex burst open and a new person exploded into the room. Lena actually recognized her as Nia Nal, the newest reporter to start working at CatCo. Why was she here?

Nia didn’t even notice Lena standing on the other side of the director. “We have a problem,” she blurted out, eyes wide and terrified. Alex wasted no time in running after her to the room on the other side of the hall. Lena was too sluggish and although she tried to follow them, she was met with a door slamming in her face. She flinched away from the sound. 

“I don’t think that was personal,” a voice from behind her startled her once more. She turned around to see the white-haired woman who was with Alex when she woke up. Despite the situation, she seemed unfazed, leaning against the wall and gesturing towards the door with her thumb. “One wrong beep from any machine in there and Alex loses her mind.”

Lena nodded absently as she watched the balloon drift farther down the hallway. “Did you know today’s her birthday?”

Livewire rolled her eyes. “Everyone does. I really don’t care. I’m supposed to drive you home.”

  
“I’m not leaving until I know she’s-”

Livewire grabbed her arm and yanked her forward, causing her to stumble over her own feet. “Please, spare me.” Her words were full of disgust. She pulled Lena along to the exit. Lena didn’t have the strength to fight her. “I’m not getting chewed out because of a lovesick puppy.”

Lena laughed in disbelief. "Have you  _ ever  _ felt kinship for another human being?"

As she pushed Lena into a car, Livewire paused. Her annoyed expression broke into a grin. "Yeah. I'm not human anymore, and the last person I cared about is dead because of your ' _ BFF.' _ Forgive me if I don't have any sympathy." 

A hundred new questions filled Lena's mind as Livewire got into the driver's seat, but she figured it might be best to leave them unresolved. She certainly wasn't getting any information out of Ms. Tesla Coil.

The drive to Lena's apartment was completely silent aside from the hum of the car's engine. Just as they pulled up, Livewire spoke. "Siobhan Smythe. Look her up." Her eyes didn't leave the pavement. Lena nodded and let herself out. The car idled for another minute while she walked to the door before peeling off. 

The first thing Lena did upon getting home was opening up her laptop and pulling up the web browser. “Siobhan Smythe,” she mumbled to herself as she guessed the spelling correctly. A fellow Irishwoman, if the name was any indication. She clicked on the first search result, an article on the woman’s incarceration. No obituaries. She scanned the last paragraph and found out why, mildly unkempt eyebrows raising at the words on her screen. “Metahuman prison riot,” she mused, continuing to read. To protect the privacy of those involved and the victims’ families, no names were released. If this Siobhan had perished in the riot there would never be definitive evidence. 

“She never texted back,” Livewire piped up from the doorway. Lena nearly fell out of her chair. 

“What the hell are you doing here?! How did you get in?!” she demanded, slowly calming herself down.

“Alex put me on bodyguard duty until you’re feeling better. I can travel through anything electric… and you left your door open.”

"Alex is with Kara and you're back too soon for a round trip to the DEO." Lena spun around in the desk chair to face Livewire. "Why are you  _ really _ here?"

Livewire made a whooshing sound blowing air from her mouth and raised an arm to hold on to the door frame, crossing her legs behind her. "I… need help," she admitted, drawing out the 'I.'

“You’re asking for help from someone who can’t remember who you are.” Lena’s eyes narrowed. “That certainly doesn’t seem suspicious at all.”

“I don’t need you to know me. I need you to trust me.”

Lena started laughing hard enough to hurt her stomach. “You really don’t know who you’re talking to.”

“Okay, uh.” Livewire stared at the carpet, waiting for another answer to pop into mind. “Yeah I got nothin’. But you’re like a technology mastermind and I was hoping you could set up some kinda crime watch for me.”

“Like... the news?”

“No no no. Like a police radio, but I wanna get there before the police. Which should be easy, I’m faster than them… can you hack the police radio or somethin’?” 

Lena sighed and started typing something, turning her laptop to the woman in her doorway. NCPD live audio feeds. Livewire’s face lit up with a grin. “Thanks. How’d you do that so fast?”

“...Google?”

“...They put radio feeds on Google now? Huh. Maybe I fried a couple brain cells when I got these powers.” To emphasize her point, she created a stream of electricity between her hands. Lena flinched.

"Too soon? Sorry." She lowered her hands and the sparks dissipated.

"Bank heist in progress on 42nd," static crackled and the audio from Lena's laptop piped up. "Copy that. 105 en route I'm gonna need backup."

"Perfect! See ya later, thanks for the head start." With that, Livewire compressed into a shower of sparks and disappeared into a light fixture on the wall. 

Lena powered down her laptop and changed into some comfortable pajamas. She could not be bothered with whatever she'd just been party to this evening and would deal with the repercussions after a proper rest. Every cell in her body still held a dull ache from the procedure she'd been through earlier and she figured the best way to fix it was giving herself some down time to heal. She'd call Alex first thing in the morning to check on her best friend. As her head hit the pillow and her eyes shut, she hoped tomorrow would bring answers and return lost memories.

*

"Lena? Isn't it a little early?" Alex's eyebrows furrowed as she spoke into her phone at a hushed volume, woken up by the incessant buzz. 

"How is she?" Lena ignored the statement entirely. Yes it was four in the morning, but she couldn't fall back asleep with the gnawing feeling in her stomach.

Alex sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked to the sleeping form of her little sister. The Kryptonian who wasn’t supposed to be susceptible to these kinds of things. The Kryptonian who was supposed to always get better under sun lamps. “She’s still really sick. But she’s alive and not getting any worse.”

Tears welled in Lena’s eyes. She couldn’t even remember why her best friend was injured. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” She slowly sat up, knowing there was no use in even trying to get more sleep. 

Alex nodded to no one as she returned to the chair she’d been sleeping in. “I will. Thank you for always being there.” She hung up first and returned to the chair she’d been sleeping in. She was just drifting off as she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. 

Being alone in the room alone with her unconscious sister, naturally, she jumped. She almost started crying when she saw who the hand belonged to. 

Kara pulled the respirator off of her face and leaned over to hug Alex as tightly as she could. 

"H-Hey, how are you feeling?" Alex asked, laughing quietly. Her disbelief was quickly overwhelmed by joy. 

Kara could only groan in response. She let go of Alex to lie back down. "Like I drank way too much coffee." She stuttered through her words and Alex could barely tell what she'd said. The latter stood and gave Kara's hand a squeeze. 

"I'll go get J'onn."

Kara nodded with tears in her eyes. 


End file.
